Laundry sorting and assembling device



y 1931. w. F. KRUSCHWITZ 1,816,331

LAUNDRY SORTING AND ASSEMBLING DEVICE I Filed July 20, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l I N V EN TOR. 11M a c 4,

ATTORNEY.

July 28, 1931. w. F. KRuscAwl z ,816,

LAUNDRY SORTING AND ASEMBLING DEVICE F118;; July 20, 1929 2 SheetZs-Sheet 2 Had I I I N V EN TOR.

Patented July 28, 1931 PATENT 1 OFFICE WILLIAM FREDRICK KRUSGHWITZ, F METHU EN, MASSACHUSETTS i LAUNDRY SORTING- AND'ASSEMBLING DEVICE Application filed July 20,

This invention has to do with the handling of wash goods in laundries. It includes a system and devices whereby the jhim withoutv mistake.

In all commercial laundries, each bundle of soiled clothes received from a customer must be separated and classified according to'the character of the goods, such as white clothes, colored clothes,j.linens, vsilks and fugitives, and all articles of'the same class of goods must be Washed together ina suitable Washing machine.

' When each customers bundle is received, it is assigned an identification number or letter :so' that after the washing or ironing orother'proces s, during which the goods are separated, they may all'bef reassembled without errors and'returfned to the customer.

:On account of the great number of pieces,

' their different requirementsand the necessity ofznot injuring the goods, various me'th ods of identification have beenused.

The customers numbercan' .be stamped, sewed, pinned or otherwise attached. to each of his articles, but thisisaptto-injure the goods. and it iskdiflicult to resort'themL,

Another system is to sort thev goods of each customer when received and put each class into a.net bag which is pinnedtogether with ,a largesafety pin, each pin having the cus-.

. .35 .tomersnumber on' .it.

Thepins of each set assigned to the customer all have the/same identification number. I

Thebags for a number oficustomers'hav- ,ing thesame classificationof goods are put together in lots and each :lot washed in a suitable machine. After all the bags in any particular lot are washedandextracted, the bags must be reassembled so that each jcusg tomer will get all ofhisgoodsofevery class. This reassembling is done by assemblers who receive the various bags and throw them into large bins or pigeon holes which have suitable sorting numbers corresponding to the IIIlIHbGI'SqOI'l the pins. ,Such bins occupy a great deal of floor space, andfif'a bag is thrown into the wrong bin the error must customers there might be only two hundred 1929. Serial No. 379,768.

be corrected. In place'ot pigeon holes. or bins, reels and other racks may also be used. There are other systems whichare quite complicated and which occupy a great deal of space. i The serious problem in a co mmerciallaundry is the reassembling of the customers buntdle so that he will get exactly what he sen The purpose of this invention is to provide a system and the devices for carrying out the system which will occupy very little floor space and which is therefore compact, and devices which are simple and not likelyto get out of order and which will automatically check errors in sorting and at the same time of such character that the goods are not damaged 1n any way by themarking. 'A mistake ln assembling cannot bema'de as a 'key tag cannot go on the wrong key bar. t The principal features of my device are a I track, preferably endless, along which travel a plurality of sockets, preferably arranged. in lots, the track being of a height which is convenlentfor the operators,and the sockets being close enough together so that an operator can reach a number of them without movlng'. V p l j 7 Each socket is arranged'to hold asingle keylbarwhich is adapted to. carry one or so more of'a set of key tags,jea ch havingan attach ng pin for closing] and holding ,a net bag. One or more assemblers work atone part of the trackand one or more finishers at 8 another part, the. sockets with their key bars and key'tags beingmoved fromithe assemblers :to the finishers at the proper time.

lVhileIpreteran oval endless track, I may use a straight or one formed .inany other way, putting on the sockets ,atfone end-and taking them off at the other.

Assuming that there'are three thousand customers, their goods are not all treated at the-same time, but eachoften isgiven a separate number. i i

1 With my device, as out of three thousand or three hundred going through at one time, such. time being, for instance, one or two hours, I can use a much smaller number of identifications.

Vith a basis of three hundred, I may divide this into twelve lots of twenty-five each or thirty lots of ten each. I number my sockets in one or more lots, from zero to nine.

I number my key bars in lots to correspon d with the sockets but in addition each key bar and its set of key tags has at the left of the customers number a lot number.

The bars and tags in each lot would therefore be ninnbered 10, 11 up to 19 and another lot 20, 21 up to 29, or A0, A1 to A9, and another B0, B1 to B9.

Each key bar assembly includes preterably sixor seven key tags each with a bag attaching pin and each so cut that it can only slip over the end 01? its own key bar.

The key bar preferably has a fixed stop at the end where it enters the socket and a spring stop at the free end over which a key tag can be forced or removed.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a d? grammatic plan view showing the operation of my devices.

Fig. 2 is a perspective showing part of an approved construction of the frame and carrier.

Fig. 3 is an elevation in detail partly in section, showing my preferred type of rails and chains, together with key bar supports, key bar, key tags and bags.

Fig. i is an elevation as from the left of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of Fig. 3 as from the upper right looking in the direction of the arrow.

Fig. 6 is an elevation partly in section of an alternative to 111 of my device.

In the drawings, is represented a frame including four legs 1, 2, 8-, and 4.- which rest on the ground 6 and are connected by braces such as 5.

Around the top of this frame extend the endless tracks and 16 and at the four corners are the sprockets 23, 24, 25, 26 and 123, 124, 125, 126, around which travel the chains and 21.

B designates the endless carrier which includes the tracks, sprockets, and other necessary parts of the frame.

Attached to chains 20 and are a plurality of key bar supports C, C each having a wheel 30 which travels on a track 15 and other wheels or rollers and which travel on a track 16.

These supports preferably travel on the outside of the carrier and each has on the outside a projection 34 in which is a key bar socket 35 to receive one end of a key bar such as F.

These key bars F, F and the key tags H, H are of a well known type. Each key bar has near the bottom a number such as 347 indicated by 4.1 and is provided with teeth or what I will call fitting members 12, those on each bar being different and those on each bar being arranged to permit the passage only of a definite number oikey tags H which are cut at 52 with reciprocating fitting members shown as being depressions. Each key tag for a particular key bar has on its face at 51 the same number with the key bar.

As shown, each key bar has a stop 1&5 at one end and a spring member 46 which serves as a stop near the other end whereby when the key tags are placed on the key bar the bar can be carried around without the tags dropping oil".

Stop is a fixed stop and stop 16 is so formed with a rounded projection that it serves as an elastic stop.

Each key tag has an attaching member 53 which is shown as a large sized safety pin. These attaching members are the means by which a net bag such as K can be attached to the key tag.

The bar supports C are arranged at a convenient height so that an assembler indicated by L1 or L2 can stick into the sockets a definite number of bars F.

If the system is based on lots of 10, each ten sockets are numbered consecutively from 0 to 9. If lots of 25, the numbers are 1 to 25.

With a lot of ten, the customers bundle is opened by a sorter, who sorts out the different kinds of goods. He takes key bar assembly such as 10 or A0 including a bar F and, as shown, six key tags H, H, H, H, H, H, each tag carrying a pin 53, and if the customers bundle has four classifications, he puts each in a separate net bag K and closes the bag with a pin 53.

The two remaining tags and pins remain on and with the bar F.

WVhen the ten bundles in a lot are sorted, bagged and numbered 10, 11 to 19, the bags go to the different washing machines according to classification and the ten bars each with its empty tags are hung on a board, or put in a carrier and taken to the assemblers L1, L2.

The net bags with their contents are treated as by washing and all of the same batch are then sent in trucks 61, 62 to the assemblers L1, L2. There may be one bag for one customer, two for others, three or four for others. If there are four bags, for one customer, there should be two empty tags on the appropriate key bar.

To start a new lot, the assembler, as L1,

takes the ten key bars as 100, 101 to109 or- AO, A1 to A9 and puts them in sockets O, 1 to 9 if it is a ten lot system.

The numbers 0 to 9 as in Fig. 5 are large, clear and in full view of the assembler 55 will remain properly spaced.

at all times and he need not see the numbers cause both the bars and tags of the same set have come to him, If he tries to put the wrong tag on a bar, it will not go on and his accuracy is therefore checked.

The sockets are preferably so arranged as to hold the bars at a slant upwards as this allows the bags to swing away from the operator and permits other tags to be morereadily put on the bar. I

The fixed stop end of each bar is placed in a socket so that the key tags can be slid over the elastic stop end. 7

When he has hung up all the bags K in a certain batch on the key bars, this lot is moved forward or along the carrier until it reaches the finishers or spreaders such as M1, M2, M3. There may be any number of tables such as 71, 72, 7 3, 74 for the finishers who pick off a key bar as it comes along so {is to spread the goods in the bags carried y it.

It is the duty of each finisher to see that there is a full set of key tags on each key bar, and if the required number including those which are empty and those which carry net bags is not correct, the bar and tags are set aside and returned for correction.

Each finisher opens each bag and handles the goods in a well known manner, setting aside each key bar with its full set of key tags as at 100 so that these can be taken back to the sorter at the starting point where the bundles of soiled clothes are opened. Y

This lot of keys, tags and pins is then started around again.

As shown in Fig 2, the carrier if it breaks down, need not be endless and the supports C, C, might be disconnected from the chains 20, 21 and might be moved along the tracks one at a time and by hand. The chains, however, insure that the supports As shown in Fig. 6, the carrier P may be endless but in place of chains and sprockets, it may include a circular reel 90 revoluble on a frame or base 91. The key bar supports 92, 92, are fixed to the reel carrier but are otherwise substantially like C, C, and each has a socket 93 to receive a bar F.

The part 90 of carrier P may even be fixed and the operators may move around it.

In the claims when the word number is used, it includes letters or any combination of letters and numbers. v

I claim:

1. The combination in a laundry sorting and assembling system of an endless carrier including a fixed frame; with a plurality of key bar supports each attached to and movable around the outside of the carrier, each support having a conspicuous number on its outer side and also a key bar socket on its outer side; a plurality of key bars each having a fixed stop near one end, an elastic stop near the other end, and an identifying number part of which number corresponds with the support number, each bar being so formed as to receive a plurality of suitably cut key tags and each bar being so detachably fitted into a socket at its fixed stop end as to project up and out; and a set of key tags all numbered to correspond with the particular key bar which they fit and on which they are removably assembled, each tag including an attaching member; together with a plurality of net bags each carried by a key tag.

2. The combination in a laundry sorting and assembling system of anendless carrier including a fixed frame; with a plurality of key bar supports each so associated with the carrier as to be movable around the fixed frame, each support having a conspicuous number and a key bar socket; a plurality of key bars each having a fixed stop at one end, an elastic stop at the other end, an identifying number part of which corresponds with the support number, each bar being so formed as to receive a plurality of suitably cut key tags and each bar being so detachably fitted into a socket at its fixed stop end as to project up and out; and a set of key tags all numbered to correspond with the particular key bar which they fit and on which they are removably assembled, each tag including an attaching member.

3. The combination in a laundry sorting and assembling system of a frame; with a plurality of key bar supportseach supported by the frame, each support having a conspicuous number proximate a key bar socket; a plurality of key bars each having a fixed stop near one end, an elastic stop near the other end, and an identifying number part of which number corresponds with the support number, each bar being so formed as to receive a plurality of suitably cut key tags and each bar being so detachably fitted into a socket at itsfixed stop end as to project up and'out; and a set of key tags all numbered to correspond with the particular key bar which they fit and on which they are removably assembled, each tag including an attaching member.

WILLIAM FREDRICK KRUSCHWITZ. 

